Another one down the aisle

Yesterday in the car on the way to Jo's, I asked Kate if she was going to play with her friend Riley. She said, "No! Riley takes toys away! I don't play with Riley!"

Then right afterwards, she says, "I'm going to marry Big Riley, you know the one from Jo's." Later she added, "When he grows up and I grow up, he won't take toys anymore, and then we'll get married. I'm going to tell Glen that."

I guess it's a reflection of my quality marriage that I've produced two children so anxious to line up a marriage partner.

First note from teacher

Okay, so I emailed the new teacher on the first day of school. Before you judge me as over-eager or whatever, know that I had a specific question about Sam's birthday snack for tomorrow. We drew early snack due to Sam's August birthday, so I needed to know!

Here's what she said:

Dear Mrs. Matthews,

Donut holes are fine... they are not homemade, so that works. I will just pass them out... if you could please send some napkins. :)
Sam has had a great day.... He is so fun. One time he remembered something and he said, "I am always on it!"
He is really a doll. Thanks for checking with me.

J.B.
Kindergarten Teacher

----------------------------

See! He really is great!

The First Full Day of Kindergarten

Waiting for the bus

My big kindergartener!

I stayed home to put Sam on the bus for his first full day of Kindergarten. We did all of the pictures and videos and such on Friday's transition day, so I figured this would be easier. He wanted to ride the bus, not be taken to school, which was fine with me.

When we went outside to wait, he wanted me to stay in our driveway, while he waited across the street. No problem. The separation was symbolic of the way he's being cut out of my life and transplanted into new, big boy, school life. (Ha. Just kidding about that part!)


It was difficult though. I gave him a couple of hugs (he asked for an extra- yea!), and he wanted me to watch from outside, not inside, while he waited. He is so ready for school, and I know he'll do great.


I never thought I'd be one of those moms who greeted the first day of school with tears and apprehension, but I drove away from the house with tears in my eyes. It is the beginning of something so great in Sam's life, but the end of something great in mine. Those years where we were the primary focus of his world, and influencers of his life, are gone. I am really glad that I was home as much as I was. I feel like I truly appreciated and enjoyed every day, or most every day.

So, onward and upward! The Father who has watched over Sam and listens to my prayers will continue to watch him now. "And Samuel grew in wisdom and stature and favor with God."

BMB: Starting School, The Bad Mom Way

Since Sam was in utero, I have dreamed about him starting school. I've drooled over the aisles of school supplies each summer, just waiting for the day when we'd pick our pencil case, our backpack... you get the idea.


Starting last spring, we began receiving little glimpses of elementary school life. We went to kindergarten enrollment. (Previously called screening, which they still do but don't want to call it that or be too critical because that wouldn't be PC.) One thinks, as an educated and modern mama, that the point of such a process would be information. I have learned, however, that parents are on a strictly need-to-know basis. We provide all sorts of personal information about our kid and ourselves, but when it comes to dates or procedures or even expectations we can have for our first school days-- don't need to know.

Top off the total sense of confusion with something I should have expected, but in fact did not: social hierarchy. Why is it I feel like I have returned to junior high? It seems so obvious who the cool parents are and the fun parents and the popular parents... throw in the conservatives vs liberals, rich vs poor, and worst of all the concerned and the nonchalant. Who do you want to be? What do you want the other parents to think about you? The world and identity I've worked hard to create, to earn, to be in other spheres of my life is irrelevant here. I'm an unknown, and whether or not that will be good enough for everyone else is unknown too.

Of course, all of this heavy pressure comes from the inner desire to create the perfect school experience for your child-- sign up for the right volunteer opportunities, the right after-school clubs, the perfect Cyclone sweatshirt. As if any of that will actually impact their experience at all. The truth is, Sam's school years are his, not mine, and it's his role to create. He was totally cool with the whole process. In the car on the way to school, he said, "I want to try everything. Everything you can do, I want to do." And he shook hands with other kids and introduced himself, just like he always does. He'll be exactly who God made him to be. And he's so much stronger and bolder and more secure than I think that he is, and I know he will be just fine.

Now whether I'll make it or not remains to be seen...